Croix-Rousse Silk Weavers

The Place des Terreaux is defined by the massive, bronze Bartholdi fountain at its center, showing a woman driving a chariot pulled by four plunging horses. Created by the same sculptor who built the Statue of Liberty, the fountain depicts…

A massive, stark stone facade looms over the Place Saint-Polycarpe, characterized by a heavy, temple-like pediment that stands out against the narrow, winding streets of the slopes of the Croix-Rousse. This building served as the chapel…

The Passage Thiaffait is a steep, covered staircase lined with iron-framed galleries that look like small, suspended workshops. Built in the middle of the nineteenth century, it served as a connector for silk workers traveling between the…

The Montée de la Grande Côte is a steep, cobblestone pedestrian street connecting the lower Presqu’île district to the Croix-Rousse plateau. It served as the primary artery for silk weavers in the nineteenth century to move their heavy…

The Place Colbert features a jagged, triangular footprint tucked against the steep incline of the Croix-Rousse hill. This quiet patch of cobbles sits where the dense weaving workshops of the nineteenth century once crowded the slope. Silk…

The Cour des Voraces is identified by a massive, six-story open-air staircase that zigzags up the interior facade of an old silk-weaving building. Built in the early nineteenth century, these covered passageways, or traboules, allowed…

A bright red sign marks the entrance to La Maison des Canuts, a small museum tucked into the Croix Rousse district. This neighborhood served as the heart of the silk weaving industry during the nineteenth century. The weavers, known as…

The Mur des Canuts covers the side of a building with a massive, painted mural that looks like a street sloping upward into a neighborhood. It spans over thirteen thousand square feet, making it the largest trompe l'oeil wall in Europe.…